Pope's first encyclical is on love, charity and sex

Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press

Published 10:00 pm, Wednesday, January 25, 2006

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI said in his first encyclical Wednesday that the Roman Catholic Church has a duty through its charitable work to influence political leaders to ease suffering and promote justice.

The document, "God is Love," also warns against sex without unconditional love, which he said risked turning men and women into merchandise.

It had been eagerly anticipated because inaugural encyclicals offer clues about a pontiff's major concerns. The 71-page document can be seen as an effort by Benedict to stress the fundamental tenet of the Christian faith -- love -- and assert the church's duty to exercise love through its works of charity in an unjust world.

In the encyclical, Benedict rejected the criticism of charity found in Marxist thought, which holds that charity is merely an excuse by the rich to keep the poor in their place when the rich should be working for a more just society.

That appeared to be an extension of the pope's firm rejection of the Marxist-inspired liberation theology, which he firmly denounced in his early years as the Vatican's chief doctrinal watchdog.

Liberation theology, which originated in Latin America, holds that criticizing the oppression of the poor and marginalized should be central to Christian theology, and that the Christian faith should be reinterpreted specifically to deliver oppressed people from injustice.

Benedict conceded that Marxist models of dealing with injustice by trying to provide for social needs did help the poor. But he said Marxism was a failed experiment because it could not respond to every human need.

"There will always be suffering which cries out for consolation and help. There will always be loneliness. There will always be situations of material need where help in the form of concrete love of neighbor is indispensable," he said.

Benedict stressed that the state alone is responsible for creating a just society, not the church.

The text is divided into two parts: Part I explores what Benedict calls the "unity of love," based on the Greek concept of "eros" -- the erotic love between man and woman -- and "agape" -- unconditional love.

The two are united in God's love for mankind and in marriage between man and woman, he said.

Part II of the encyclical puts the theological concept of love into concrete terms, which Benedict said is found in the church's charitable activities, where the love of one's neighbor is put into practice.

Benedict said the church's work caring for widows, the sick and orphans is as much a part of its mission as celebrating the sacraments and spreading the Gospel. But he stressed the church's charity workers must never proselytize or push a particular political ideology.